The Scarlet Fighter
by I Before A Except After K
Summary: Gohan goes to school 3 years earlier, and instead of teaching Videl how to fly, teaches her everything she needs to fight like a Z Warrior. No Saiyadork. Criticism in reviews is encouraged and appreciated. On hiatus while I rewrite it.
1. First is the Worst

**Author's Note:** This is my first story, so please tell me where I can use improvement. Anyway, for those of you who care about such things, this story deviates from cannon in a few waysn. For the sake of my story, I'm having Gohan go to school three years earlier, as a freshman. In addition, I'm toning down Chichi's bitchiness, because I honestly can't stand her cannon self, let alone the exaggerated personality she has in most fan fics. Also, let it be known that there will be NO Saiyaman in this story. Gohan deserves to keep his dignity.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Dragonball Z. I honestly don't see why a disclaimer would even be necessary, considering this site is dedicated to stories that are written by people who don't own the original work.

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><p>Chapter 1: First is the Worst<p>

"But Mom, I don't see the point in going to high school! You've taught me everything that I could possibly learn there, and more. Hell, you even made me read an entire book on peach farming on the trip to Namek!" Gohan complained, before eating his third bowl of rice.

Chichi sighed. They'd had this conversation over breakfast every day since she'd told Gohan that she'd signed him up for public school. Goten finished his massive portion and left to go play outside while Gohan and his mother argued.

"Watch your language in front of your brother, Gohan. I'm well aware that there won't be much for you to learn there, but you really need to meet other kids your age."

"But what about Dende?" Gohan asked, thinking of the green boy that had held the role of Kami ever since Piccolo had merged with the previous Kami.

"I meant kids that aren't _aliens, _Gohan."

"But Mom, _I'm_ an alien too," Gohan pointed out, referring to his father's Saiyan heritage.

Chichi sighed. "You know what I mean. And besides, you're also half human. It's high time you made some normal friends. I'm getting tired of Bulma being the only other normal person I know."

_Implying that you're a normal person, _Gohan thought. _Most mothers don't lift furniture one-handed while vacuuming._ "I guess I can understand that, but I still don't like the fact that I have to hide my strength."

"Gohan, if your classmates knew how strong you really are, they'd be scared to death. I'm your _mother_ and it still scares me sometimes to know just how strong you are." Chichi glanced at the clock and jumped up. "Gohan, you've got thirty minutes to get to school! You should get going so you can make it on time." Chichi ran into the kitchen, and returned with a capsule. "Here's your lunch. It's not as much as you usually have, but this way you won't stand out as much."

Gohan took the capsule, stepped out the front door and took to the skies. His mother's voice could be heard from inside the house reminding him to stop flying once he reached the city.

* * *

><p>Gohan was making good time. He was halfway to his school from the outskirts of Satan City. As Gohan was walking, he heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots coming from a building nearby.<p>

_It sounds like someone could use my help. If I transform into a Super Saiyan, nobody should be able to recognize me._

Acting on his decision, Gohan ducked into a nearby alley and powered up. He then flew into the fray, catching the robbers off-guard, and catching the bullets that they sent his way once they had regained their composure. Gohan quickly disarmed them and turned them over to the police, before flying out of sight and reverting to his normal state and continuing to school.

* * *

><p>Gohan arrived to class a few minutes late, and his teacher introduced him to the class. An energetic-looking blonde girl in a green tube top invited Gohan to sit next to her, and seeing nowhere else to sit, he took one of the empty chairs next to her.<p>

"Hi, my name is Erasa! It's nice to meet you," said the girl in question. "The big guy over there is Sharpner, and though she's not here right yet, _the _Videl Satan usually sits with us too."

At that exact moment, "the" Videl Satan ran in through the classroom door. She went up to the slightly annoyed teacher and whispered something to him which Gohan could just barely make out with his more sensitive hearing.

"_I had to help out the police with a robbery. They told me that the school has been made aware of my community service," _whispered Videl.

The teacher smiled and nodded. "Yes, I understand. Please take a seat among your classmates so that we can get started."

Videl made her way to the empty seat between Erasa and Sharpner, giving Gohan a curious glance as she passed him. Gohan, meanwhile, was processing what Videl had just shared with the teacher. _If she's helping out the police force in this city, she must be fairly strong,_ he reasoned. The half-Saiyan reached out with his senses and sized up Videl's ki. As he had expected, it was far stronger than the average human. Gohan was then distracted from his musings by Erasa picking up where she left off.

"So, as I was saying, this is _the_ Videl Satan." Erasa turned to Videl. "Videl, this is Gohan. Our teacher said he's really smart, and if you ask me, he's pretty cute, too."

Gohan blushed at Erasa's compliment. Trying to change the subject, and more than a little curious as to why Erasa was acting like he was supposed to know who Videl was, Gohan said, "So Erasa, what do you mean by '_the_ Videl Satan?' Am I supposed to know who she is?"

Erasa looked shocked, and Videl just glared. "How can you not know who she is? She's the Junior Division Champion of the World Martial Arts Tournament, and her dad's Hercule Satan, the strongest man in the world. Surely you've heard of _him."_

Gohan frowned at the name. _How could I forget that clown? He's that idiot that kept calling our techniques 'tricks' and saying that we weren't real fighters. It's hard to believe that she's related to him._

"Of course I've heard of Mr. Satan. He's the one who defeated Cell." Gohan had to fight the urge to wretch while saying that. "I never knew that he had a daughter. You sound like quite an accomplished fighter, Videl."

"Hmph."

* * *

><p>And so, the school day continued normally until lunch time. Gohan, Sharpner, Erasa, and Videl found a shady spot under a tree for lunch. Gohan pulled out his lunch capsule and tossed it on the ground. The three humans' eyes went wide when they saw how much food was spread out before them. After the initial surprise wore off, Erasa turned to Gohan.<p>

"What's with all the food? That's gotta be enough to feed all four of us!"

Gohan was about to answer, but Sharpner cut in. "He probably wanted to make some friends or something by letting them have some of his food."

"No, this is all for me," Gohan answered sincerely, sitting down to eat.

Sharpner started to laugh, but his laughter quickly died down as Gohan started to inhale the massive amount of food. Sharpner and Erasa were speechless, but Videl was intrigued.

_How can he eat all that food and still be so thin? There's definitely something unusual about this guy._

After the shock of Gohan's eating habits had worn off, talk turned to the latest gossip, namely the mysterious golden-haired boy who had appeared that morning and foiled a bank robbery.

"I heard that his hair was blond and spiky, and he had green eyes. He sounds really cute," Erasa mused.

Videl was more concerned with the mysterious fighter's actions than his appearance. "What I'm more interested in is how he was able to pull off some of those tricks. I heard that he _**caught**_ the robbers' bullets. My dad's supposed to be the strongest in the world, and even _his_ reflexes aren't that good. There's no way it was staged. The chief told me that his men checked all of the confiscated weapons, and they all had live ammunition. There were even a few officers who were shot, and they would've been dead if not for their bullet-proof vests. I don't know how, but _somehow_ he managed to catch several dozen bullets."

Gohan was torn between being proud that he was already famous, and panicking because he was already famous.

* * *

><p>And so, lunch ended. The rest of the school day continued without incident. As Gohan was walking to the outskirts of the city, he sensed Videl's ki rise. Deciding to check on her and make sure that she wasn't in over her head, he ducked into a back alley and transformed into a Super Saiyan, and flew off in the direction of Videl's ki. When he finally caught up to it, he found a bus careening out of control off a cliff. Moving faster than the eyes of anyone but the Z fighters could see, he flew under the falling bus and slowly reversed its descent, bringing it back up to the road, where dozens of frightened elderly people, bloody and bruised hijackers, and one scowling Videl flooded out of the bus.<p>

Grudgingly turning to her rescuer, Videl gasped, before quickly regaining her composure. "Thanks. So Gohan, how do you do that with your hair?"

Gohan went white. "How did you figure out that I was Gohan?"

Videl smirked. "You told me, just now."

"Crap baskets."

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This chapter's title has a double meaning. The first is in the context of the story; Gohan has had a terrible first day of school. The other meaning is due to the fact that this is the first chapter of my first fan fiction, this will inevitably be my worst work.

In the realm of plot, I decided that instead of dragging out the process of Videl discovering Gohan's identity, I decided to take the approach that the manga had and just have Videl trick him into confessing. I'm sorry to anyone who enjoys that part of the story, but it's overdone and I really would rather get into the meat of this story.


	2. Twenty Questions

Chapter 2: Twenty Questions

As the former hostages returned to their remarkably unscathed tour bus to be brought home, Videl turned to Gohan.

"So, care to explain?"

Gohan subconsciously started scratching the back of his head in the way every member of the Son line seemed to. "Um, what would happen if I said no?"

Videl grinned. "I'm sure that Erasa would _love_ to know that you're the Gold Fighter. I'm sure that she'd be able to keep it a secret. After all, she's only the biggest gossip in the school."

Gohan sighed. "All right, but not here. I'd much rather keep this private," Gohan said, eyeing the approaching police vehicles that were coming to pick up the kidnappers.

"We can talk in my jet copter. I'll give you a ride home." Videl pulled out her jet copter and decapsulized it. "Come on, get in."

"Um, Videl, I kinda live far away from here. It'd be a long flight."

"It can't be that far. Where do you live?"

"The 439 Mountain Area," Gohan mumbled.

Videl's eyes widened. "Wow, you weren't kidding. That's at least an hour or two by jet copter. How do you get to school?"

"I fly," Gohan replied simply.

"So you get up two hours before school just to..." Videl trailed off as she realized what he meant. "Oh."

"Yeah. Still willing to give me a ride?" Gohan asked.

"Will your explanation last the whole trip?" Videl countered.

"Depends on what you want to know."

"Well first off, how you're able to fly, and how you're able to change your appearance like that, and...you know what? Just get in. I'm sure I'll have enough questions for you to last the whole trip."

"You're the boss," Gohan said as he climbed into the passenger's seat of Videl's jet-copter.

As Videl's jet-copter took off, Gohan powered down out of Super Saiyan.

"Wow, how do you _do_ that?" Videl marveled.

"It's...an ability that runs in the family. Unless you're somehow related to me, which I doubt, you can't do it."

Videl sighed. "Figures. Next question: How are you able to fly?"

Gohan smiled. "Oh, that's easy. I just use my ki."

"'Ki'?"

"You don't know what ki is?"

"Not a clue."

"Well I think we've found the topic that'll occupy most of the flight. Ki is sort of like your life force. It's the body's energy in a tangible form. Every living thing has ki, some more than others. For example, your ki is much higher than an average human." Gohan paused, sensing that Videl was about to ask something else.

"So if I have higher 'ki' than most people, does that mean I could learn to fly too?" Videl's eyes began to brighten at the prospect.

"Yes, I think so..." Gohan paused for a moment to measure up Videl's ki, and compare it to how much was generally needed for flight. "...yes, yes, your ki is definitely high enough. I'd imagine that's probably due to your martial arts training. Fighters generally have much higher ki than the average person."

"So do you think you could teach me?" The enthusiasm was clear in Videl's eyes.

"I..._suppose_...I could. Schoolwork doesn't really keep me that busy. Just be sure that my mom and little brother don't know. My mom wouldn't be too happy to learn that I've let myself slip on the first day of school, and my little brother would probably want to learn to fly too, and he's too young for me to feel comfortable teaching him."

"What do you mean 'let yourself slip'?"

"Well, I'm a lot stronger than the average human, and the whole point of me going to high school was to fit in and make some normal friends."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. Anyway, would you mind if I came over this weekend for some flying lessons?"

"As long as my mom and my brother don't find out, sure. I know a nice open area out by a lake that would be perfect for training. Just know that flying is only one use for ki. If you really want to use ki to its full potential, you'll have a lot to learn."

Videl smirked. "Trust me, I'll learn whatever you have to teach me. Anyway, there was one other thing I'm curious about. Those rumors that I heard about you catching the robbers' bullets at the bank robbery this morning, are they true?"

"Yeah. With enough training, it's really not that difficult."

"So how did you do _that? _Last time I checked, bullets are harder than bare skin." Videl asked, thinking she probably already knew the answer.

"Again, utilization of ki. With that, I just used my ki to increase my body's resistance to damage. Catching the bullets is just reflexes, though."

"Wow. You _**have**_ to show me how to do that."

Gohan was enjoying this exchange a great deal. _It's ironic, really. To think that the daughter of the man who refuses to believe in ki even when it's right in front of his face would be so eager to not only believe in it, but want to learn to use it with hardly any evidence at all. Of course, that raises the question of why she's so receptive._

"Hey Videl, how come you're so willing to believe in this when your father's been denouncing it as cheap illusions for the better part of four years?"

Videl answered without missing a beat. "Mostly because I _want_ it to be real. My father's been letting the fame from the Cell Games go to his head, and if what those fighters did was real, that would shut him up. Speaking of the Cell Games, though, I remember a few of the fighters at the Cell Games were able to do that thing you do with your hair. You know them, don't you?"

"Would you believe me if I said no?"

"After everything you've told me, no, I wouldn't believe that. Not for a second."

Gohan glanced out the window and noticed that they were getting close to his home. He directed Videl to the field he mentioned earlier and got out, telling her to meet him there on Saturday for her first day of training. Gohan waited until Videl's copter had taken off and flown out of sight before turning and heading for his own home.

While he was walking, he thought to himself, _You know, this wasn't such a bad day after all. Videl is pretty nice once you get her to open up. And taking a student could be a lot of fun._

As Videl piloted her jet-copter home, she thought about Gohan's promise. _I'm really looking forward to deflating my dad's oversized ego. And Gohan's a pretty cool guy once you get to know him._

**Author's Note:** I know, I know. Talking is boring, especially when anyone familiar with the series already knows all of this, but it's a necessary evil.


	3. Videl's First Time

**Author's Note:** I've changed the genre to Adventure/Humor because honestly, I just can't help myself.

**Chapter 3: Videl's First Time**

And so, the week passed by slowly for Gohan and Videl, who were both very eager to begin Videl's training. At last, training day arrived. Videl found Gohan waiting for her out in the field where they had agreed to meet. Videl was more than a little pleased to see Gohan wearing a gi that revealed much more of his physique than his typical school clothes ever did. She liked what she saw. Videl capsulized her copter and went over to where Gohan was waiting.

"So Gohan, what's my first lesson? I'm ready for anything!" Videl said excitedly.

"Well first we have to teach you how to tap into your ki. It's not an easy task if you've never used ki before, but the only time someone generally uses their ki without meaning to is when they're in immense physical danger."

"How much danger are we talking here?"

"Well, when I was four, my first master threw me at a plateau. I'd try that, but I don't want to injure you too bad on your first day."

"Did it work for you?"

"Hell no! I hit the thing head-first and got stuck on a cliff all night. Things get kinda fuzzy after that. I vaguely remember hearing someone shout the words 'stop mocking me' and the next thing I remembered, the Moon was gone."

"I remember hearing about that. I've always wondered what happened."

"Anyway, I think for you the best way to access your ki would be to meditate. Try and feel for the center of your body. You should start to feel a pull."

"I've always kind of felt that from time to time. I never knew that was my ki. So, what now?"

"Try and bring it out," Gohan instructed.

"How?"

"How what?"

"How do I bring it out?"

"You just kinda...do."

"That's incredibly unhelpful," Videl deadpanned.

"I don't know how else to describe it."

"Well it's _clearly_ not working."

"Yes, I can see that."

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be teaching me these things, you're really not a very good teacher."

"Maybe meditation isn't the way to go for you. One of the main elements of meditation is to be calm and focused, and those seem to be problem areas for you, along with patience. There's one other thing we could try, but I have to warn you that if it works you'll be completely drained."

"And that would be?"

"It's called the Kamehameha. My dad learned how to use ki as a kid by watching someone else use it. Maybe that'll work for you, too." Gohan took a stance, with his legs spread apart, with his left leg forward slightly. He brought his arms back and brought his wrists together, his hands forming a cup shape. "Videl, get into the same stance I'm in."

Videl complied. _I look ridiculous. This better not be some kind of joke. I feel like a little kid copying a superhero pose she saw on TV._ Videl was brought back to the present by Gohan's next instruction.

"Now Videl, try and focus your ki into your hands. Repeat after me. **Kaaaaaaaa...**" An orb of blue-white light started flickering in Gohan's hands. "**Meeeeeee...**" The orb of light solidified and was no longer flickering. "**Haaaaaaaa...**" The glowing blue-white orb began to grow. "**MEEEEEEEEE...**" The ball of blue-white light stopped growing as it reached from one of Gohan's palms to the other. "**HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**" Gohan thrust his arms forward, shooting the blue-white beam of energy towards a mountain that he didn't particularly care for. The mountain exploded, and when the dust settled, there was no longer a mountain.

Videl gasped in amazement, momentarily forgetting about the fact that she was supposed to be following Gohan's example. Quickly she got back into her stance and began reciting the attack's name. "Ka..." A brief flash of blue-white light appeared in her cupped hands. "Me..." A blue-white orb the size of a pea solidified in her cupped hands. "Ha..." The orb of light started to grow, quickly becoming as big as a golf ball. "Me..." The little ball of light reached the size of a baseball. "Ha!" Videl brought her arms forward, and the little beam of energy shot forward and hit one of the pieces of rubble from the mountain that Gohan destroyed. The boulder-sized rubble escaped with little more than a dent.

Videl's face fell. _Why was Gohan's so much bigger and more powerful?_ Videl heard laughter coming from nearby, and her disappointed face quickly changed to a scowl. Videl glared at Gohan. "What's so funny?"

Gohan forced himself to stop chuckling. "I'm sorry Videl, it's just that that's probably the weakest Kamehameha I've ever seen."

Videl's temper began to rise, her face starting to turn red. Sensing the danger, Gohan explained, "Don't worry, Videl, it's not your fault. You had two problems, neither of which is your fault. The first, is that your ki is far lower than mine, so your attacks are naturally going to be less powerful than mine. The second, and most important problem, is that you practically whispered the name of the attack. I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I realized that the Kamehameha's power is determined by how loud you shout the attack's name. It's a mistake anyone could make, really."

"An attack that's powered by how loud you yell? You're joking, right?"

Gohan grinned. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But wouldn't you rather believe that the reason your attack was so weak was because you weren't loud enough rather than because you have low ki?"

"Point taken."

"So Videl, do you remember how it felt when that energy started to form in your hands?"

"Yeah. It's kind of weird. It's almost like the Kamehameha was doing everything for me."

"That's because to a certain extent, it was. You could call it 'Baby's First Ki Blast'."

"For some reason I doubt that'll catch on."

"You're probably right. Anyway, it's good that you didn't put too much power into that blast, because that means you should still have enough energy left to try accessing your ki consciously this time."

Gohan and Videl both sat back down on the grass and took meditation positions.

"Now Videl, try and remember that sensation as the Kamehameha drew on your ki. Now, bring out your ki."

Now that Videl had an idea of what she was supposed to be doing, she found Gohan's advice much less irritating. In very little time, Videl had managed to bring out her ki.

"All right! Now does this mean I'm ready to learn how to fly?" Videl asked excitedly.

"No, not yet. You still need to learn to control your ki better. For right now, we'll work on bringing your ki in and out until it no longer requires any thought or effort."

Videl looked disappointed, but she understood the importance of what she was doing.

After several hours of rigorous practice, Videl had finally gotten the hang of accessing her ki at will. It was starting to get dark, so Videl got her jet-copter out and prepared to fly home. She paused for a moment when she heard Gohan say her name.

"What is it, Gohan?"

"Well, about your hair, it might be better short."

"Why do you say that? Do you like girls with short hair?"

"Well yeah, I do, but I meant that it would make you less vulnerable in a fight, since you'd have no long hair for your opponents to grab."

"It sounds like I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Your words, not mine. See you tomorrow!"

And with that, Videl got into her jet-copter and took off for home.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I took a few liberties with the Kamehameha here. I always thought it strange that Goku managed to use the Kamehameha on his first try, and that he used it almost exclusively throughout Dragonball. I figure that the Kamehameha must be easier to pull off than regular ki blasts, somehow. The explanation I gave in this chapter is my way of trying to fill in that blank.

**Edit (5/26/12):** Just so you know, the Kamehameha won't be the only technique that I subject to my own interpretation. There's one other that I plan on expanding on, though it won't be one that's as widely used as the Kamehameha. _**Very** _clever readers might be able to figure out what it is, and what I plan on doing with it. If anyone manages to guess what it is in a review, I'll confirm it via private message. It won't be appearing in the story for a while, so have fun guessing.


	4. Pieces to the Puzzle

**Chapter 4: Another Piece of the Puzzle**

It was Sunday, and Gohan was waiting for Videl at the usual place. Gohan checked his watch. Videl was late. She usually arrived on the hour, but right now it was a quarter past the hour, and she was only just arriving. As soon as Videl hopped out of her jet-copter, he saw why she was so late. It seems that Videl had taken him up on his suggestion to cut her hair.

"You like it? You'd better. After all, it _was_ your idea."

Gohan blushed. "Yeah, I like it. I makes you look...damn."

"What?"

"Yesterday, when I said that I liked girls with short hair, I thought I was joking. Turns out I wasn't joking at all."

"So I take it that you approve?"

"Yeah." Gohan decided now would be a good time to change the subject. "Anyway, let's get to training."

"So, what are we doing today?"

"Today I think we'll work on using your ki to strengthen certain areas of your body. This will serve two purposes. First, it'll improve your ki manipulation, and second, it'll mean that you'll be able to take more of a beating, you'll be able to handle the more difficult aspects of training. What I'm going to do is throw punches at you, and you'll try to focus your ki where you think I'm going to hit you to prevent yourself from being hurt."

"And what happens if I _do_ get hurt?" Videl was less than enthused with the idea of someone who could lift a bus trying to attack her.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll be holding back to the strength of a normal human. And besides, I've got plenty of Senzu beans with me in case I slip up. Korin was kind enough to hide away his stock of them from Yajirobe, so there should be plenty. Yajirboe'll probably go hungry, though. But that's no big deal. He could stand to lose some weight, anyway."

Videl furrowed her brow. "Wait, Senzu beans, Korin, Yajirobe? Care to let me in on the conversation?"

Gohan blinked. "Oh, right, I forgot that I haven't told you about them yet. Senzu beans have amazing healing properties, to the point of making modern medicine nigh-obsolete. I even remember one time where a Senzu bean healed me when I had a broken neck. My dad gave me a Senzu bean and I was back at 100% in seconds."

"Wow. How come more people don't know about them? Something like that could be incredibly useful."

Gohan frowned. "Well, therein lies the problem. Most people don't know about them, because Senzu are very delicate plants, and only grow in very specific conditions. The only place in the entire world where Senzu are known to grow is at the top of Korin's Tower. Korin lives at the top and cultivates them. Yajirobe also lives at the top of the tower, freeloading off of Korin, and he eats most of the Senzu."

"I've heard of Korin's Tower, but I've never known of anyone to have made it to the top, before. So Korin is the name of the person who lives at the top of the tower?"

"Yeah. I'll take you to meet him some time, if you'd like."

"That sounds great. Anyway, let's get started."

Videl took a defensive stance, and Gohan started throwing weak punches at her, while she blocked them as best she could. Videl was surprised at how little pain Gohan's punches inflicted. Though initially Videl had had trouble focusing her ki in time for Gohan's hits, it gradually became easier. As soon as she though she'd gotten the hang of focusing her ki, Gohan started pushing past her guard, not giving her the chance to block. Caught by surprise, Videl received a few bruises from the hits she wasn't prepared for.

Noticing Videl's surprise, Gohan spoke without even stopping his attack. "Videl, you can't just assume that you'll be able to block all your opponent's hits. Letting a hit past your guard shouldn't be a surprise, and you should always be prepared to protect your vital areas."

As he finished giving his pointer, Gohan decided to slip another hit past her guard. This time, Videl was prepared, and took the hit without injury.

* * *

><p>This went on for another few hours, with periodic breaks to allow Videl to rest. On one such break, Videl decided to try and learn a little bit more about her new instructor.<p>

Gohan and Videl were sitting against one of the trees at the edge of the lake, relaxing in the shade. Videl turned to look at Gohan was relaxing peacefully. To the average person, it looked like he was sleeping.

"So Gohan, how did you learn all this ki stuff? Surely you can't be self-taught."

Gohan opened his eyes, and turned his head in her direction. "You're right, I'm not self-taught. I was first instructed by a man named Piccolo. It was very difficult training, but now he's like a father to me."

Videl frowned. "Piccolo...that name rings a bell from somewhere." Videl paused to think for a minute. "Oh yeah! I remember learning about someone known as Demon King Piccolo in history class. Are they related somehow?"

Gohan nodded. "Piccolo...you could say that he's King Piccolo's son."

"Is he really a demon? I heard that he was green, with pointy ears, antennae, and sharp claws."

Gohan chuckled. "Well, yes and no. While his appearance does match that description, my friends and I found out not long after he trained me that he's actually a Namekian." Seeing Videl's confused look, he clarified. "He's an alien."

Videl's eyes went wide. "So wait, aliens are real? And there's one living here on Earth? Gohan, just how many secrets do you _have_?"

"More than you can imagine. But let's keep it to one bombshell at a time. Since I'm going to be teaching you everything there is to know about ki, you'll eventually learn all my secrets whether I tell you or not."

Videl scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "What makes you so certain that learning about ki will result in me learning all your secrets?"

"Well, because one of the techniques I'm going to teach you will be the ability to sense other peoples' ki. Either you'll sense the ki of my friends, or they'll sense yours. Either way, you'll end up meeting and they'll spill the beans on everything."

"That's good to know, I guess. Though I can't imagine what could be more shocking than finding out that you personally know an alien."

"Trust me, Videl, this is just the tip of the iceberg. If I told you everything at once, you'd probably pass out. My life is like something out of a manga."

Videl looked a bit doubtful, but decided to take his word for it. "I guess you won't be answering any more questions today, will you?" Gohan shook his head. "Then I guess we might as well get back to training."

* * *

><p>And so the rest of the day went. By the time the Sun was beginning to set, Videl was sporting several new bruises. Videl got out her jet-copter, and Gohan opened his mouth to give her his final advice for the day.<p>

"You've made great progress today, Videl, but I'm sure you know that it won't be enough just to train with me. If you're really dedicated to this, you should work on your ki manipulation throughout the week. If, come Saturday, you seem to have progressed enough in your training, then we'll move on to teaching you some basic techniques."

Videl nodded, a look of determination on her face. "Trust me, I'll be ready." And with that, Videl got into her copter and started flying home.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This probably won't be the last chapter that I upload today. I'm planning on writing Chapter 5 as well, and will be uploading it as soon as I finish writing it (and as soon as I deem it ready, of course)


	5. Power Levels and You

**Chapter 5: Power Levels and You  
><strong>

Videl landed her jet-copter on the roof of her father's mansion. As the day had been particularly tiring for her, she decided to get ready for bed immediately. It was not to be, however, because as soon as she opened the door from the roof, she found her father standing there, as if he'd been waiting for her for hours. This effect was ruined by the fact that he was clearly out of breath, as he'd obviously run halfway across the mansion in order to beat her to the door.

"Just where have you been all day, young lady?" he growled.

Videl shrank a bit. Her dad only called her "young lady" when he was very angry with her. She took a moment to strengthen her resolve, and delivered her answer. "I've been training."

"That's a lie! We've got all the best training equipment in the world right here! You were with a boy, weren't you? You know what I've always said, 'if you want to go out with a boy, he must be-'"

Videl rolled her eyes as she cut her father off. "Stronger than you, I _know._ Yes, I was with a boy, but it's not like that. He was teaching me some new techniques."

Hercule took a moment to process this, before getting even angrier. "Videl, you're much too young for that! You shouldn't know ANY techniques until you're at least thirty or forty! At least tell me you used protection!"

Videl looked confused for a moment, but went pink when she realized what her father was talking about. "Dad, that's disgusting! I meant _fighting_ techniques! Get your head out of the gutter!"

Hercule gave a sheepish grin, momentarily ruining the image of an angry father, before becoming serious again. "Why would you want someone else to teach you when you could learn from me?"

"Because I don't _want_ to learn from you! I don't want to live my whole life as 'Hercule Satan's daughter'! I want to be more than you, _better_ than you!" And with that, Videl pushed past her father and went to her room.

* * *

><p>At school the next day, a number of heads turned when they saw Videl's new haircut. As she sat down in her first class, Sharpner and Erasa gaped. They were even more surprised when Gohan, who arrived late as usual, didn't seem to notice at all. When Videl greeted Gohan as he sat down, they could no longer contain their curiosity.<p>

"Since when have you been friends with nerd-boy here?" Sharpner asked, shooting Gohan a condescending look.

"Since he helped me something over the weekend," Videl responded indignantly.

Gohan tensed as Videl mentioned their weekend training. He wasn't really too concerned about his strength getting out, but he wanted it to be on his terms.

"But we haven't been assigned any homework yet. What could he have possibly done for you?" Erasa asked.

"I never said that it had anything to do with school. And anyway, what he helped me with isn't important. What _is_ important is that I'm going to be busy on weekends for a while. It's a long-term project that he's helping me with."

Gohan relaxed at Videl's response, glad that she had decided to keep quiet about their training sessions. He hadn't thought to ask her to keep what they were doing a secret from her friends, and was thankful she seemed to have come to the decision not to tell on her own.

Erasa frowned. "If you say so..."

The rest of the day passed with Videl overhearing people whispering about her change in hairstyle. While she didn't particularly care about what the rumor mill stirred up – she'd long since gotten used to people spreading rumors about her; it was a hazard of being the daughter of Hercule Satan – she did find all the whispering incredibly annoying.

When school let out, Videl decided to let some steam out by going to train at her father's martial arts dojo. Due to her status as the daughter of the champion, and also due to her own reputable skill, her very presence at the dojo would cause almost anyone in the facility to challenge her in the hopes of proving themselves a worthy opponent to the champ, as he refused to fight anyone that couldn't even beat his daughter first. To most, this would be a rather frightening prospect, but to Videl, this was routine. Most of the people training at the gym were far below Videl's level, despite many of them being several times her size. Ordinarily, she'd nip things in the bud by beating the biggest person in the gym first, which would cause the others to back down, but today she wanted to relieve some stress. Before long, her first challenger stepped forward.

"Hey, you're Mr. Satan's daugher, aren't you? People say you're pretty strong, but you don't look so tough to me. Let me see what you've got."

Videl rolled her eyes. She'd lost count of how many times people had underestimated her because of her size. She was about to tell the guy to get lost when she remembered that she was supposed to be working on her ki manipulation for Gohan's training. Sizing her challenger up, she decided that he would be good to practice on. "Fine. I was going to train with one of the punching bags in the back, but you'll do just fine."

Making their way to one of the sparring rings, Videl slipped into a defensive stance, and waited for her challenger to make the first move. Her opponent rushed at her without any sort of style, and started blindly throwing punches at her. Concentrating her ki, she started blocking his punches with her arms while barely feeling his hits. On the few occasions where he managed to get past her guard, she was prepared and focused her ki to prevent any damage from the blows. Quickly growing bored, having yet to be challenged by her attacker, she decided to go on the offensive. She countered his next attack, and then started to throw some punches of her own. Unfortunately, due to her offensive splitting her concentration between attacking and focusing her ki on decreasing the injury caused by blocking her opponent's attacks, the ones that he managed to slip through her guard due to his unpredictability managed to do a fair amount of damage. She quickly beat down the untrained fighter, then moved on to someone that could provide her with a proper challenge. By the time she left her father's dojo and made her way home, several of the attacks she took had formed bruises.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week passed with nothing interesting happening, aside from a few calls for help from the police in which Videl was aided by Gohan appearing as The Gold Fighter. Each day she trained on her ki control at her father's dojo, and each day she received a few bruises from attacks that she wasn't able to prepare for in time. As the week went on, she noticed that she was feeling much stronger than she did before, and she grew more and more eager for the arrival of the weekend and the continuation of her training. Saturday rolled around and she landed her jet-copter in the clearing where Gohan was waiting. As Videl got out of her copter and made her way to Gohan, he did a quick scan of her ki. He was pleased to see that her power level had almost doubled since she had left their training last Sunday. As Videl reached him, he spoke.<p>

"Good morning, Videl. I'm happy to see that you've been training rather diligently throughout the week. Before we begin, I'd like to thank you for keeping quiet about what exactly we're doing during these training sessions. I didn't think to ask you to keep this a secret until Erasa asked you where you were last weekend."

Videl smiled. "No problem. I doubt people would've believed the truth anyway." She paused for a moment and furrowed her brows, before asking. "So how exactly did you know that I've been training so hard?"

"Remember how I mentioned that one of the techniques that you can learn is the ability to sense ki? Well I can tell that yours has almost doubled since you left here last Sunday. The amount of ki you have increases much faster than if you're using it to aid you in training than if you're just relying on your muscles alone."

"But how come I feel like my muscles have gotten stronger as well?"

"That's because your muscle strength is related to your ki. As your ki grows, your base muscle strength increases as well. Of course, there are a number of ways to use your ki to augment your strength, which is what we'll be working on today. I'm sure you've noticed that while manually using your ki to increase your defensive capabilities is helpful, it isn't very practical in a real fight. Thankfully, there is a much better way. It is known as powering up."

Videl's eyes widened. "You mean it's possible to get stronger just by thinking about it?"

Gohan nodded. "While it's a bit more complex than that, in short, yes. That's what we'll be working on first today."

"That sounds great. So, what do I do?"

"It's rather simple, really. All you have to do is spread your ki to every area of your body. It requires concentration to do this, but as you get stronger, this will start to become as natural as breathing. Now, I want you to try it."

Videl blinked. "Wait, you're not even going to give me a demonstration?"

Gohan shook his head. "No. Now that you have a grasp on how to control your ki, all you really need to know is the theory. Now go on, I know you can do it."

"If you say so," Videl said, closing her eyes. She clenched her fists as and started grunting as she forced her ki to spread throughout her body. Before long, a small breeze picked up, the grass under her feet rippling in the wind. The grunts became yells, and the breeze started to pick up dust and dirt. Then suddenly, it all died down, and Videl opened her eyes.

"Wow. This feels _amazing!_ I feel like I could lift a car!" Videl said excitedly.

Gohan did a quick reading of her power level. "Hmm, not quite yet. Give it a couple of weeks."

Videl did a double-take, and her power level dropped back to normal as her concentration broke. "Wait, seriously? I could really become that strong?"

Gohan laughed. "Videl, with enough training, you could blow up a planet. Almost all of my friends that use ki can do it."

Videl suddenly felt faint. She could hardly imagine what it would be like to wield such power, and the idea that _she_ could hold such power was slightly overwhelming. "So...you're saying that you've blown up a planet before...?"

"No, but I've fought people who have. This may come as a surprise to you, but my friends and I don't usually make friends with people who go around casually destroying worlds," Gohan said sarcastically.

Videl started to calm slightly, before her mind registered his exact wording. "Wait, '_usually_'? Please tell me that was just poor word choice on your part, because I _really_ don't want to believe that you're friends with someone who blows up planets for kicks."

Gohan scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well, there is this one guy..." Seeing the look of horror on Videl's face, he quickly added, "but Vegeta's changed since then. He's married now, and he's got a four-year-old son. Bulma would kill him if he so much as laid a hand on someone that didn't deserve it."

"Well that's good, I guess," Videl said. Then the name that Gohan had just said hit her. "Wait a minute, did you say Bulma? As in _Bulma Briefs _Bulma? First you tell me that you were trained by a notorious demon whose actually an alien, and now you tell me that you're friends with one of the richest women in the world. Are there any other big names that I should know about?"

Gohan grinned sheepishly. "I didn't really know that Bulma was that famous. I don't really think of my friends as being famous, so maybe I should just list them off? There's Krillin, Master Roshi, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Bulma, Vegeta, 18, Piccolo, Dende, Korin and Yajirobe."

"A lot of those names sound really familiar..." Videl said. She stroked her chin thought for a moment, before it came to her. "Oh yeah! A lot of them were contestants in the World Martial Arts Tournament a number of years ago. My dad said they were all cheaters because they were using those techniques that he calls tricks. I guess you weren't kidding about all your friends knowing how to use ki. But I haven't heard of this 18 person that you mentioned, and I haven't heard of Dende either. Could you maybe tell me a bit about them?"

"Another time. Their stories are long, and we really need to get back to your training." Videl sighed resignedly, and Gohan continued. "Now that you know how to raise your power level, it's time for you to learn how to bring it down. Using your ki to change your power level is a double-sided coin. You can spread your ki throughout your body to raise your power level, and you can also pull it back in to bring it down."

"Why would I want to do that? Wouldn't it make me weaker?"

Gohan nodded. "Yes, but it also allows you to hide from people that are able to detect ki. Not everyone that uses ki is a good person. Just imagine if Cell was after you and you couldn't hide your ki. Your power level would stick out like a sore thumb around most people."

Videl went pale. "Yeah, that's a good point. So, just do the opposite of what I did before?"

When Gohan nodded once more, Videl closed her eyes and began to draw her ki back into her center. She was surprised to find that she was able to draw in much more than she had spread out when she had initially powered up for the first time. She also was surprised to find that it was much easier to bring her power level down than it was to raise it.

Videl opened her eyes, but before she could ask, Gohan continued his explanation. "Good job. Your power level is at about that of an average human. I probably wouldn't be able to find you in a crowd the way your power level is now."

Videl smiled. "So, is that it for today, or are you going to teach me something else? I think I've got a pretty good handle on that whole powering up thing, and I doubt more than a couple of hours have passed yet."

"I guess. You'll need to work on ensuring that you can maintain your power level at high and low states without conscious effort, but I suppose you can work on that during the week. I guess now would be a good time to teach you how to sense ki."

Videl's face lit up at the prospect of learning to use a sixth sense. Seeing this look, Gohan said, "I hope now that you know that what I'm teaching you is real, that you'll be more patient than you were last weekend, because I'm afraid that you _will_ have to sit through some meditation to learn how to sense ki."

Videl faked a pouting face, before sitting cross-legged on the ground, Gohan following suit. Videl closed her eyes as Gohan began giving her instructions. "In order to sense the ki of another, you must clear your mind, and reach out with your own ki. Allow your ki to respond to the ebb and flow of the ki around you. Use it to see what your eyes cannot."

Videl felt slightly frustrated with the opaqueness of Gohan's words. She wished he'd just say what he meant, rather than spout all that mystical junk. But then she remembered that she was supposed to be clearing her mind, and let those thoughts go.

"Release the rigidity of your essence. Allow it to relax, and sway with the push and pull of the essence of external forces. Release the weight of the burdens on your soul, and allow it to feel what is beyond itself."

Videl let her body relax, and let her deepest troubles fade away.

"Now, listen to your ki, and see what it is showing you."

Videl began to sense something. It wasn't a touch on her skin, nor an image in her eyes, or a sound in her ears. It was a feeling of calm, of a being both peaceful yet unbelievably powerful. She liked the feeling. She wanted to keep feeling it. She tried to find out where this feeling was coming from, reaching out with her infant sense. She soon realized it was coming from right in front of her. It was coming from Gohan.

Videl opened her eyes. "Gohan, I think I did it. I think I felt you. It was almost like I could feel what you were feeling, though."

Gohan cracked an eye open. "Yeah, I guess I forgot to mention, along with gauging how strong someone is, it's also a slightly empathic ability. You can get a vague idea of what the other person is feeling, and what their intent is. In practice, it helps us figure out who's good and who's evil. An evil person's ki is usually heavy and foreboding. It can be almost overwhelming at first."

"So, is that all there is to it?" Videl asked.

Gohan shrugged. "More or less. But just being able to feel someone sitting right in front of you is far from enough. You need to extend your range, and you need to be able to track a moving ki signature. We'll be working on that for the rest of the day." Gohan's stomach growled loudly. "...after we have some lunch, that is."

Gohan got up, and pulled a capsule out of his gi, and tossed it a few feet away. After the smoke cleared, a picnic table became visible, covered with what looked like a feast. Gohan sat down to eat, and Videl tentatively sat down across from him. The amount of food laid out in front of her was unnerving. She'd seen the massive lunches he ate at school, but this was easily twice as large.

"Hey Gohan, you're not planning on eating _all_ of this, are you?" Gohan nodded. "How can you _possibly_ eat all of this without making your stomach explode? I thought the lunches you ate at school were huge, but this is ridiculous!"

Gohan finished devouring a bowl of rice before responding. "What can I say? My family have always been big eaters."

"This isn't just big, Gohan, it's _inhuman,_" Videl said, gesturing towards the rapidly growing stack of empty dishes.

Gohan flinched almost imperceptibly. "I don't know what to tell you, Videl." And with that, he continued eating.

* * *

><p>After their meal, during which Videl had a small portion of Gohan's meal, they returned to their meditation, where Gohan was trying to help Videl improve the range of her ki senses.<p>

"I can feel yours pretty clearly now, and I'm pretty sure I can feel another large power over there." Videl pointed towards the woods, where Gohan could tell that Goten was currently playing.

"Yeah, my little brother's over there," Gohan confirmed.

"That's your _little brother?_" Videl exclaimed. "Didn't you say he was only three years old? He's stronger than _me!_"

Gohan chuckled nervously. "Well, he's been using his ki as long as he's been walking. Don't worry about it too much. Ki use comes naturally to our family."

"Still..."

* * *

><p>By the end of the day, Videl had managed to increase her range to the size of a small city, though she had mentioned she could vaguely feel several other large powers, though she couldn't tell where they were. She'd also identified a smaller ki signature nearby that Gohan had told her was his mother. As Videl flew home in her jet-copter, she continued to feel out with her new found sense. As she passed over West City, she noticed that two of the large powers she had felt earlier seemed to reside somewhere within the city. As she landed on the roof of her home, she reached out with her senses one last time, to see how powerful her father was. While it was easily stronger than anyone else in the mansion, one thing was apparent to Videl: her father was weak. Sure, he was much stronger than the average human, but compared to the other powers that she'd felt today, or even her own, he wouldn't stand a chance.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Hopefully the longer chapter will partially make up for the wait.

I'll be honest, I don't really know what to do with Erasa and Sharpner. Their characters weren't very fleshed out in DBZ, so it's hard for me to come up with something that sounds like something they would say, yet also contributes to the story. I probably won't be including them much in the story, at least not at the beginning. Also, for the record, there won't be any Sharpner-bashing in my stories, because honestly, I find it rather obnoxious.

As for the ideas behind powering up and sensing ki, I hope I made them believable.


	6. Videl, Welcome to DBZ

**Chapter 6: Videl, Welcome to DBZ  
><strong>

Videl's mind was racing. She was aware that deep down, she had known that her father hadn't been the one to defeat Cell, but now that she had proof, the reality of what that meant finally hit her. All of the fame that her father had gained for defeating Cell, and the fortune her father had gathered from reward money and television and movie contracts, _everything_ had been based around a lie. Worst of all, as a result of her father taking credit, the true heroes had been declared liars and tricksters for their efforts. She briefly considered confronting her father about this, but soon decided against it. She'd wait until she'd finished Gohan's lessons. What better way to get back at her father than to defeat him with the very powers he condemned as being tricks?

* * *

><p>"All right, Videl. Today's the day you've been looking forward to. I've taught you enough of the basics of ki control that I feel you're ready to learn to fly," Gohan said, smiling at the look of thinly veiled excitement on Videl's face. "In order to fly, you surround yourself with your ki, and you use it to hold you up. It should be fairly easy for you now that you've got a good grasp on how to control your ki."<p>

Videl nodded, before closing her eyes and attempting the technique. She encountered much more resistance in trying to move her ki outside of her body than when she was moving it around within her, but she still managed to surround herself with her ki fairly quickly. Next, she tried to raise herself into the air by moving her ki upwards. This she found slightly more difficult. Slowly, she felt the ground fall away from her as she began to float in the air. She opened her eyes to find herself floating uncertainly several inches above the ground.

Gohan applauded. "Great job, Videl! Pretty soon you'll be soaring through the air like it's second nature."

Gohan's words were enough to break Videl out of her concentration, and she promptly fell out of the air, as if the laws of gravity had just noticed that they were being ignored and promptly asked her what in the hell she thought she was doing up there. Videl picked herself up off the ground, and quickly rounded on Gohan. "Why'd you have to go and break my concentration? How do you expect me to focus on staying in the air if you're talking to me?"

Gohan sighed. "Videl, my friends and I have held entire battles without ever touching the ground. Before your training is over, flying is going to become as natural to you as breathing _by necessity._ We've spent hours in the air before. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Piccolo has learned to stay in the air even while he sleeps."

Videl gulped. "You're not planning on working me that hard, are you?"

"Videl, before I'm through with you, you'll even be able to give _Freeza_ a run for his money."

Videl stared at Gohan. "All right, I thought I'd heard all of the names you had to share already. Who is Freeza?"

Gohan adopted a rather grim expression. "In short, a complete monster. He was a world-destroying tyrant that had a pretty large portion of the galaxy under his thumb. My dad had to fight him about eight years ago. I'd say I wish we'd never met him, but if it weren't for him, Dad probably would've never discovered our family technique."

"You mean that thing that makes your hair all glowy and golden like that?" Videl inquired.

"Yeah. He pushed my dad beyond his limits, beating him down until he had nothing left. Then, as if that wasn't enough, he killed my dad's best friend, Krillin." Gohan's eyes hardened as he mentioned Krillin. "That pushed my dad over the edge. I don't really know what happened after that, because he told me to leave after that, but I do know that they fought to the bitter end." Gohan was starting to choke up at this.

Videl felt terrible for Gohan. Though he hadn't said it outright, it was clear that he'd seen this Krillin person die right in front of him. She could hardly imagine what Gohan must have gone through in his life. Then something struck her. "Hold on, didn't you mention someone named Krillin yesterday? If he died eight years ago, then how come you spoke as if he's still alive?"

Gohan snapped out of his musings and scratched his head nervously. "Well, that's because he's...well...not dead anymore..."

Videl stared at him blankly. "What?"

Gohan answered uneasily. "Well, you see, he _did_ die, but we were able to wish him back to life with the Dragon Balls."

"You _wished_ him...back to _life_...with these Dragon Balls?" Videl parroted.

Gohan was the embodiment of discomfort at this point. "W-well, you see, there are these objects called Dragon Balls, and if you bring all seven of them together—there are seven, by the way—if you bring all seven balls together, a magic dragon appears and will grant you two wishes—well, two with Earth's dragon, but three if you use the Namekian dragon—and you can wish for anything within the dragon's power, like bringing someone back to life or something."

Videl was glaring at Gohan by this point. "Do you _really_ expect me to believe that? People that can blow up planets and fly? Fine. Aliens living on Earth without anyone knowing? Fine. But _magic balls that can revive the dead?_ I'm sorry, but that's where I draw the line."

Gohan was starting to recover from the nervousness that Videl had inflicted on him earlier. "Yeah. Didn't you think it was weird that everyone that was killed by Cell miraculously revived after he was defeated? A villain's victims don't come back to life on their own if the villain is killed. We had to bring them back with the Dragon Balls."

Videl sighed. "All right, fine. I believe you. So, if these magic balls can bring back the dead, how come I've never seen your father around?" Videl quickly realized that this was a touchy subject for Gohan when she saw the haunted look on his face when he heard this question.

"Well...he...decided that he wanted to stay dead. He said...that he attracts too much trouble for the world, and that...if he was dead, the world would be safer without him around."

Videl could see the pain in his eyes, and hear the sadness in his voice. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself hugging Gohan tightly. "I'm sorry, Gohan. He obviously meant a lot to you."

Gohan hugged her back. "Thank you, Videl. He meant the world to me. It's been four years, and still a day doesn't go by that I don't wish he had stayed."

Videl released her embrace, and Gohan did the same. "Thanks again for that, Videl. I haven't really had the chance to open up like that to anyone before. Almost everyone I know has known my dad almost his whole life, and because most of our lives are rather unbelievable, I can't really talk to anyone outside our circle about things."

Videl nodded. "I understand. If you'd have dropped all that on me at once, I probably would've thought you were crazy."

"Sometimes I wonder if I haven't gone crazy after all."

Videl shook her head, mildly amused. "Gohan, for what you've been through, you're probably as far from crazy as it's possible to be."

Videl decided that now was the time to change the subject, before Gohan had the chance to think too much on such a depressing topic. "So, you've been to other planets before?"

"Yeah, Namek. It was Piccolo and Dende's home planet before Freeza destroyed it."

"You mentioned Dende yesterday, but you said that his story was a long one. Is that all there is to it?" Videl prodded.

Gohan shook his head. "Not quite. After Namek was destroyed, he and the rest of the Namekians moved to a new planet that they wished for with the Dragon Balls. Then, just a few days before the Cell games, my dad went to get him from New Namek and he took over the position of Kami after Piccolo fused with the old Kami."

Videl shook her head. She thought she'd reached the point where nothing could surprise her anymore. Clearly she hadn't reached that point yet. How do you react when someone tells you that they're friends with Kami? "Gohan, you do realize that being pals with Kami isn't something that you just casually tell people, right? It's kind of a big deal."

Gohan scratched his head again in that manner that was so characteristic of the Son family. "You think so? I guess when you're in the middle of things it stops seeming so important."

Videl chuckled. "Only _you_ could make light of hanging out with Kami."

Gohan shrugged. "I suppose." He glanced at his watch. "Oh wow, we really got off track, didn't we? I didn't mean to make this about my personal life. Let's get back to training."

"If you insist. Your personal life is probably the most interesting thing I've ever heard, so it doesn't really feel like you're making things about you."

Gohan smiled gratefully. "Regardless, today's about helping you to learn the basics so that you'll be ready for the more advanced stuff later on. Trust me, you'll want to make as much progress today as you can, because next weekend is when things start to get serious."

Videl groaned. _This stuff wasn't serious?_ "Gohan, you said that you wanted make me powerful enough to rival Freeza. Just how powerful was he that you're working me so hard?"

Gohan smiled evilly. "Powerful enough that he could blow up a planet without even breaking a sweat."

Videl fainted.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Sorry for the loooooooong delay. A number of things kept me from finishing this, not least of which was my own tendency to procrastinate. I blame Steam's summer sale for most of it, though. It's amazing how having half a dozen new games can distract you from writing.

Well anyway, I had most of this chapter written before I got distracted, and looking back at my earlier chapters, I feel like I've been a bit too formulaic with my writing, so starting with the next chapter, I'll be aiming for a much more dynamic and fluid form of storytelling.

Looking back on this, Gohan's a bit angsty in this chapter, but I think it's still kinda in character for him.


End file.
